MP HG 68 or Lee 452-200?

Hello, everyone.
I'm looking forward to trying a SWC design on my 45 ACP.
I love the quality of my 9mm MP mold, and was looking on the web that they have the HG68 clone available in NLG 6-cavity aluminum mold, as I PC my 45 and 9mm boolits.
The problem is that I live in Argentina, and sometimes (unfortunately, more and more frequently) there are problems with mail delivery.
Here I get easily and cheaper, the mold of Lee, 452-200, also SWC.

When I was starting to make my boolits, my first two-cavity 9mm lee mold couldn't throw a boolit higher than .355 and I ended up selling it. I know that many of you use the LEE molds without problems.
I don't know if LEE's 6-cavity molds are of better quality.

The question is: is it worth spending a little more for a MP mold?
Like all of you, I want a mold that is durable, throws boolits without too much effort, and works well in my gun.
I hear your thoughts!
Thank you!

Go with the MP mold or Accurate for the H&G 68, I stay away from Lee mods.

I've got that MP mold and it is a gem. Beautiful bullets, correct weight, shape and diameter. I cast from range lead and WW and this mold casts like dream. Bases are perfect. As you can see I can't say enough good things about this mold. I've not used the LEE but being in the US have never had an issue with shipping from MP.

I don't presently use any Lee moulds and haven't bought a Lee mould in a long time (actually haven't bought any moulds in a long time), but I've had very good results with Lee moulds. In comparison with other moulds however, Lee's are fragile and aren't going to last forever, but if you damage a Lee, you're not out much. Or maybe I'm just hard on moulds.

I've numerous Lee 6 cavity moulds, both standard Lee including the 452-200-SWC and custom group buy. All are good moulds that cast excellent bullets. They require a bit of mould prep the custom moulds don't but Lee's are much less expensive so you're not paying more for the extra prep. A do it yourself deal. With proper care, use and maintenance they have lasted me for many years, and I expect many more years of use out of them. Got my first Lee moulds in the mid '70s (maybe sooner) and still have and use them.

I have cast, literally, thousands of bullets for use on my 45 ACPs and 45 Colts from my 452-200-SWC, 452-190-SWC, 452-230-SWC, and 452-200-RF.

I have both Lee and MP molds. The MP molds are higher quality though the Lee molds cast a good bullet. The Lee molds have a wooden sprue plate handle that comes loose and needs to be glued on. The Lee has the sprue plate bolt that is not locked in place. You can drill and tap a set screw to secure it in place. The alignment pins on the Lee are not as robust as the MP.
With that said, I have a Lee 120 g. TC that I have cast several thousand boolits with.
Also I think the MP would have better resale value.
For yhe price difference I think the MP is the better value.

Have the Lee 6 cavity 452-200 SWC and have cast thousands of bullets with it. This is my second one, first one lasted about 45K bullets, before I couldn't rework it anymore. Problem was me, not watching how I lubed it. This was my first six cavity and lessons learned have been applied to molds I bought later on. All my handgun molds are Lee six cavity and they work like they should an really rain bullets.

I believe the Lee version is a bevel base. I would prefer one without the bevel base.

I have the NOE version. My only complaint is that normal wheel weight alloys throw a bullet that weighs 210+ grains. Not a huge deal but would prefer something closer to 200 grains in an ideal world. My mold is probably 6 to 8 years old so I have no idea if the current models are the same as back then.

I have a 5 cavity NOE clone of the H&G 68. It absolutely rains boolits. I highly recommend this mold! The Lee molds are OK, but this mold is a work of art.

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Originally Posted by ShooterAZ

I have a 5 cavity NOE clone of the H&G 68. It absolutely rains boolits. I highly recommend this mold! The Lee molds are OK, but this mold is a work of art.

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:goodpost:
LIKE !!!

thanks to all
wait for MP

MP molds are pretty good. I’ve heard of a lot more problems with Lee molds than MP molds. Maybe it’s just because they sell a lot more. I sure have a bunch of Lee molds and there’s only one that I haven’t been satisfied with. Boolits always cast too small.
PS: I just ordered something from Ukraine. I wonder when or if I’ll get it.

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Originally Posted by ioon44

Go with the MP mold or Accurate for the H&G 68, I stay away from Lee mods.

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I have Lyman, Ideal, NOE and LEE.
Did you have issues with LEE??

Shiloh

I bought the LEE HG 68 clone. I had Buckshot flycut the bevel base off.
It casts perfect boolits, and I don't have to clean lube off the BB.
Works very well with Alox lube and 45-45-10 lube.

Shiloh

Lee molds were originally designed to not need sizing. Another one of Lee's attempts to keep reloading less expensive. I probably cast and loaded 20,000 bullets from Lee molds without owning a sizer, not even the push through type. Cast, lube, load, shoot. Many people consider them undersize since they are smaller than most molds made by RCBS or Lyman. Different design criteria.

This does cause problems with some firearms that have a bore slightly over "spec". Or if you cast with an alloy that produces a smaller dia bullet. IIRC, Lee's were designed for COWW alloy.

finally order the mold to mp molds
now to wait for it to arrive

The delivery speed of MP molds is wonderful, it is already in Argentina. I got a call yesterday from UPS to let me know that the Argentine government has stopped all shipments from abroad until further notice.
Argentina, a country that if it weren't for the government, would be beautiful!

Congrats on the MP Mold. Enjoy

I have many molds of that design as I was looking for that h&G 68 style for my 45 acp needs. I tried the Lee and found it casts a good boolit but that the nose was a tad long and the radius on the nose was a bit too square and it gave feeding problems in some of my guns but not all. I found that if I seated the Lee boolit flush with the end of the case mouth it worked better but I searched on and tried a couple others and I liked the RCBS version but they only come in 2 cavity and that was too few and too slow. Next I got a 68 design from the company that bought the H&g manufacturing rights and their mold was not right so they cut me a new one and it was not quite right so I gave up on them too. Next I got in on a Mihec group buy and got a decent mold that cast well, I think I got two of them. Lastly I bought an original 4 cavity iron H&G 68 with a flat base from a member here. That mold needed a little work on it as for some reason the cast iron had swelled just below the cavities on the face and it would not close flush. So I knocked the alinement pins back and used some fine wet or dry sand paper on a piece of glass to lap the faces of the block never touching the area around the cavities. I pressed the pins back to the proper position and that mold drops perfect boolits that are round to within a half thousandth of an inch. The boolits just fall out of the mold and I will keep it till my casting days are done.

Attachment 302414
Thank you very much to all for the tips
The MP HG&68NLG has already started making boolits
Now I have to shoot them and see what load they like. I made them quite soft and will start with light loads.

That boolit works great for me over 4grains of Red Dot/Promo.

I'm a little late to this thread but I do understand the OP's reservations about delivery of an MP mold. I have to say that if anyone can get a mold to its' destination, it is Miha.
I have two MP H&G68 clone molds in 4 cavity and one of his first aluminum 6 cavity molds. The six cavity kicks out boolits that are a little out of round but size ok. I do have to say that I use the brass 4 cavity molds exclusively because they work so well.

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Originally Posted by alamogunr

I'm a little late to this thread but I do understand the OP's reservations about delivery of an MP mold. I have to say that if anyone can get a mold to its' destination, it is Miha.
I have two MP H&G68 clone molds in 4 cavity and one of his first aluminum 6 cavity molds. The six cavity kicks out boolits that are a little out of round but size ok. I do have to say that I use the brass 4 cavity molds exclusively because they work so well.

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Yes! Miha and Ups!
it was only held up in customs for a week, and that's not miha's or UPS's problem.
Happily it's already raining boolits on my reload bench

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Originally Posted by Finster101

That boolit works great for me over 4grains of Red Dot/Promo.

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Have you ever measured speed?
the alliant page says that the red dot load for 200 grains of jwords is 4.5 grains
So since I can't get red dot, I'll most likely try to match the speed
I use a 1911 clone

More often than not it's having little to do with matching speeds. This is where pressures and more specifically short start pressures come into play.

3 different bullets
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/WyNKQjP.jpg[/IMG]

Testing loads @ 50ft with a nm 1911/45acp rested with a reddot doing 5-shot groups. testing 4.0gr and 4.3gr of clays.
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/GcK8If3.jpg[/IMG]

As you can see the 4.0gr load was nothing more than blammo ammo. The 4.3gr load held +/- 1" groups with all 3 bullets tested. The squares on the target are 1" squares.
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/N17hNIE.jpg[/IMG]

The bullets are 2 vastly different 200gr bullets and the cramer 5f is the cramer version of a 200gr swc. It just happens to be a hollow base version of that bullet making it a 175gr swc.

Speaking from experience the H&G molds ar definitely heavier(more tiering) than any aluminum Lees.
Steve

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Originally Posted by S.B.

Speaking from experience the H&G molds ar definitely heavier(more tiering) than any aluminum Lees.
Steve

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I have 2 of the MP four cavity clones of the H&G 68. I'm also 80 years old. It slows me down a little but well worth the output from the MP brass molds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nueces5

Have you ever measured speed?
the alliant page says that the red dot load for 200 grains of jwords is 4.5 grains
So since I can't get red dot, I'll most likely try to match the speed
I use a 1911 clone

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Sorry for not responding. I have come down with the virus that shall not be named. I do not have a chrony but, that load shoot to POA out of my Colt Officers model.

Thank you all for your answers, very good development of Forrest loads.
From what they say, then I'm going to have to find the best load using the ladder method.

I would have no real issue with the newer Lee 6cav. The alum is better & the design is better. I bought a 40/180 about 18m ago & its actually throwing really good bullets from the first go. I cant say that about some earlier molds of theirs. Though anything from Accurate is gtg. I cast mine with a Magma mold, also gtg.